Ozzy Osbourne: Beatles moved me

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Ozzy Osbourne's life was changed after he heard The Beatles track She Loves You.

The British rocker has been in the limelight since his band Black Sabbath rose to prominence in the 1970s, which Ozzy says was all thanks to the Fab Four.

Upon hearing one of their earliest tracks, Ozzy knew a career in music beckoned.

"I'm sure I'd been exposed to other songs, but I think the first one that has a real effect on me was She Loves You by The Beatles. It was just magic - it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. I even remember where I was and what I was doing. I was walking down the road in Aston one day, with my light blue transistor radio, and this song came on. I thought, 'What the f**k is that?'" he revealed to British magazine Kerrang!

"It changed my life forever, and at that point I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I never knew it would turn out the way it did - it turned out way bigger than my wildest expectations - but I knew that I wanted to be the singer in a band."The music publication quizzed 65-year-old Ozzy on the songs and music that have most shaped him, with tracks as varied as Cliff Richard's Living Doll and Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday making the list.

But it was The Beatles that most influenced him, and he confesses the song he most wished he'd written was their 1967 hit I Am the Walrus.

"After I heard She Loves You, my whole world was The Beatles. I was just obsessed with them. A Day In The Life was a huge song for me when I was younger.

"John Lennon was so great with words. He had an amazing way of turning out ridiculous lyrics but making them sound interesting and clever. Sometimes I like more straightforward lyrics, but, at the same time, I'm a fan of lyrics that do a number on my head," he laughed.